Battery powered cigarette lighter



Dec. 3l, 1968 s. HUNT BATTERY POWERED CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Sept. 21,'1966 ,A''illlh lum United States Patent() 3,419,704 BATTERY POWEREDCIGARETTE LIGHTER Seymour Hunt, Mount Pleasant Village, Bldg. -1B,Morris Plains, NJ. Filed Sept. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 580,941 6 Claims. (Cl.219-268) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE Pocket size electric cigarettelighters having a fine wire heating element drawing low wattage, andincluding a parabolic reliector for enhancing visibility of the heatingelement when energized by a battery.

This invention relates to electric cigarette lighters and, moreparticularly, to portable, pocket size, electric cigarette lighters. f

An electric cigarette lighter of the type utilizing a heating elementpowered from a battery has several natural advantages over conventionalcigarette lighters. The need for a wick, int, ignition mechanism andleak proof container is eliminated resulting in a simple mechanicalstructure with a longer life expectancy. A llame is not required andtherefore the electric lighter is safer and operates under windyconditions. Many designs for electric cigarette lighters have beenproposed, and, in recent years, several commercial electric lightershave been developed.

The more recent electric cigarette lighters include one or morerechargeable batteries such as the nickelcadmium batteries. The batteryenergizes a resistive heating element which, in the past, has requiredfour to five watts at approximately three amps for a period ofapproximately live seconds in order to light a cigarette. With powerrequirements of this magnitude the prior commercially available electriclighters have been capable of lighting approximately 60 cigarettes(three packages) before requiring recharging.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved electricalcigarette lighter with decreased power requirements so that the lightercan light approximately cigarettes (a full carton of cigarettes) beforerequiring recharging.

It is another object to provide an electric cigarette lighter which isexceptionally compact and smaller than prior commercially availableelectric lighters.

It is another object to provide an electric cigarette lighter having asubstantial apparent cigarette lighting capability when viewed by apotential customer.

It is another object to provide an electric cigarette lighter whichminimizes the quantity of precious metals required in the construction.

It is another object to provide a standard electric cigarette lighterunit suitable for mass production which can be marketed with a varietyof removable outer decorative casings.

It is still another object to provide a switch for an electric cigarettelighter which completes a low resistance circuit for the heater elementand also secures a removable outer casing.

The foregoing and other objects of this invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed specification which sets 'forth anillustrative embodiment of the invention. The drawings form part of thespecification wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view of -an electric cigarette lighter inaccordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is `an end view of the same showing the heating elements; and

Patented Dec. 31, 1968 FIGURE 3 is a view of the opposite end showingthe battery charger connection terminals.

The electric cigarette lighter in accordance with this inventionincludes a rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery 10 as a power source.Preferably the battery is of the pen-lite size having a 600 milliampcapacity and a terminal voltage of approximately 1.25 to 1.40 volts. Acylindrical case 11 surrounds the 'battery and has an approximateoutside diameter of inch. A heater sub-assembly 12 and a coversub-assembly 13 are secured to one end of the case, and a sub-assembly14 including contacts for connections to a battery charger 15 aresecured at the other end. The overall length of the lighter, excludingthe battery charger, is less than three inches.

The heater for lighting the cigarettes, included in the heatersub-assembly, is connected between a pair of terminal posts 20 and 21which are mounted in, and pass through, a dielectric heater mountingblock 22. The heater is made from platinum wire preferably including tento twenty percent rhodium and commercially referred to as platinum10-20. The diameter of the wire is between .003 and .006 inch, and ispreferably between .O04 and .005 inch, this being approximately one-halfthe diameter of heater wire used in prior commercial electric lighters.Platinum wire of this diameter, although relatively tine, can beproduced commercially without diticulty. Platinum 10-20 is desirablesince it does not oxidize or tarnish and since it has a relatively longlife when heated periodically to temperatures of 1,800` to 2,200 degreesas is required for lighting cigarettes. Platinum 10-20 heater wires ofthis diameter have been found particularly desirable since the decreaseddiameter of the wire increases the resistance of the heater element andthereby reduces the heater power requirements. At the same time, thedecreased mass of the heater element provides a more rapid temperaturerise to the cigarette lighting temperature thereby improving theefficiency of the lighter by decreasing the time required to light acigarette.

The heater consists of two coils 24 and 25 formed by winding theplatinum wire around a suitable mandrel having a diameter between .010inch and .O12 inch. The coils are each approximately Mr inch long andare connected in parallel between terminals 20 and 21. The spacingbetween the coils is approximately 1/16 to 1/s inch. The heater coilsprovide higher temperatures than could be achieved by a straight wireheater since the infra red radiation of the individual turns of thecoils radiate energy into adjacent coils to provide a better heatconcentration and higher temperatures. The coils are quite small inorder to achieve -better mechanical strength and to obtain a more rapidtemperature rise for the heater. Accordingly, it is preferable to use apair of small coils rather than a single large coil. Having two coilshas the added advantages of an interheating effect between the coils andimproved reliability achieved by lighting the cigarette in two places.With a platinum 10-20 wire 'of approximately .0047 inch diameter woundinto coils with the above indicated dimensions, the heater coils arefound to each draw less than 1.2 amps so that the combined heater unit,including two such coils, consumes less than 3 watts.

The relatively small, tine wire coils provide the necessary heat forlighting a cigarette but, because of their smaller size, provide alesser red glow and a somewhat deceptive appearance to a potentialcustomer when comparing this lighter with other lighters having largerheating coils. To offset this deceptive appearance the center portion ofheater mounting block 22 is provided with a concave, approximatelyparabolic, depression which iS coated with a reflective material to form a small reflector 3 26 located behind the heating coils. Althoughthe reflector surface can be silvered, a gold plated surface ispreferable since it has better infrared reflecting characteristics. Thegold plated reector has been found to improve the efficiency of theheating coils -by approximately ten percent.

Terminal posts and 21 are made from nickel since nickel provides goodelectrical conductivity while at the same time providing relatively lowthermal conductivity. Accordingly, the nickel terminals resist heattransfer away from the heating coils and thereby improve the heatingefficiency. With the temperatures involved at the terminal posts, theheating coils leads could be soldered to the terminal posts. However,soldered connections tend to form heat sinks that dissipate heat fromthe heating elements, and therefore, spot welded connections are used.

Cover sub-assembly 13 includes a cigarette guide plate 30 having acentral frusto-conical opening 31 extending from one surface which tendsto funnel cigarettes into a communicating circular cigarette opening 32which extends through the guide plate to the other side. Opening 32 isdimensioned to accommodate the end of the cigarette which is to be lit.Heating coils 24 and 25 are resiliently suspended within cigaretteopening 32 and are positioned to engage the end of the cigarette wheninserted in the opening. The resiliently suspended heating coilseliminate the need for a supporting structure that would otherwise tendto dissipate heat from the heating coils.

A mica washer 33 is mounted in an annular recess on one side of thecigarette guide plate and has an inside diameter somewhat less than thediameter of a cigarette to thereby partially close off the far end ofthe cigarette opening 32. The washer limits the travel of a cigarettewhen pushed into the cigarette opening and thereby prevents damage tothe resiliently suspended heating coils. The leads of coils 24 and 2Spass through the central opening of washer 33 to resiliently positionthe heating coils within the cigarette opening. When a cigarette isinserted, it engages the heating coils before abutting against washer33. Therefore, when the cigarette is in position for lighting, theheating coils are maintained in resilient contact with the end of thecigarette by means of the heater coil leads.

A circular cover 36 has a diameter approximately the same as the outerdiameter of cigarette guide plate 30 and is used to cover the end of theguide plate to thereby close off the open end of the lighter when not inuse. The cover pivots about a rivet 37 which is located near the edge ofthe cover and is secured in the cigarette guide plate. Thus, the covercan pivot from an open position as shown in FIGURE 2 to the closedposition as shown in FIGURE 1. The cover is provided with an annularrecess surrounding rivet 37 which accommodates a rubber O ring. Thedepth of the recess is slightly less than the thickness of the O ring tosqueeze the O ring between the cover and the cigarette guide plate toprovide a frictional holding force which maintains the cover in anyselected position.

Terminal post 21 is connected directly to the center terminal 40 of thebattery via a copper lead wire 41 and terminal post 20 is connectable tothe casing of the battery via a switch 42. The circuit completed throughthe switch is a high current, low voltage circuit and, therefore, theswitch must complete a very low resistance contact. Accordingly, thestationary contact 43 of the switch is made from a relatively widecopper strip coupled to terminal 20 at one end and bent to form aresilient contact portion that extends away from the heater mountingblock. The associated movable contact 44 is similarly fashioned from arelatively wide copper strip and includes a contact portion which isgenerally parallel with the contact portion of the stationary contact43. The movable contact is bent so that it extends toward and thenparallel to the lighter casing, the portion extending along the casingbeing spot welded to provide electrical contact with the casing. Theother end of the contact portion is also bent to extend toward thecasing with the free edge retained in a suitable groove of a push button45. The contacts are preferably made from heat treated beryllium copperwhich provides flexibility and a low resistance surface. When the push`button is depressed, movable contact 44 moves toward and engagesstationary contact 43 to complete the electrical circuit from terminal40 of the battery through terminal post 21, heating coils 24 and 25,terminal post 20, stationary contact 43, movable contact 44, casing 11to the case of the battery. The relatively wide contacts 43 and 44provide a relatively large, low resistance, contact area in the switchas is required for the low resistance contact.

Contact sub-assembly 14 includes a dielectric contact base 50 havingtherein a pair of apertures. Suitable copper contact lugs 51 and 52 arepositioned surrounding the apertures at the inner end. Hollow copperrivets 53 and 54 are then passed through the apertures with the flangedends remaining on the outside. The inner ends are thereafter llared tosecure the rivets and the contact lugs to the contact base. Preferably,the flanged end of the rivet is recessed into the contact base as shownin FIGURE l. Contact lug 52 is connected to terminal 40 of the batteryvia an insulated copper wire `55, and contact lug 51 is connected to thecase of the battery via a copper strip 56.

The battery charger 15 can be of the type including a transformer havinga primary winding connected to male contact extensions suitable forinsertion into a wall receptacle. The secondary winding of thetransformer is selected to provide a voltage suitable for chargingbattery 10. The secondary winding is connected in series with arectifying diode and a pair of male contact extensions suitable forinsertion through hollow rivets 53 and S4. Thus when the charger isinserted into the wall receptacle and into the contact end of thelighter, the battery charging circuit is completed and battery 10` ischarged.

The case 11 for the cigarette lighter includes an inner cylindricalcasing 60 and an outer removable covering 61. A pair of quarter roundcomponent spacers 62 and 63 are positioned diametrically opposite oneanother and curved to t inside casing 60. Spacers 62 and 63 are deformedto provide inwardly extending, quarter round, projections 64 and 65which provide shoulders 66-69. Contact block S0 is secured within oneend of casing 60 abutting shoulders 66 and 67. The end of battery 10 ispositioned abutting shoulders 68 and 69 with the width of projections 64and l65 being selected to maintain the minimum necessary spacing betweenthe battery and terminals 53 and 54.

Push button 45 has a cylindrical body portion which is rounded at oneend and provided with an annular flange 70 at the other end. Innercasing 60 is provided with a suitably positioned aperture of a diameterSullicient to accommodate the body portion of push button 45. A similaraperture is provided in component spacer 62 with the edges bent inwardlyto provide a stop surface engaging flange 70. Push button 4S is shown inFIGURE 1 in its outermost position. When depressed, the push buttonmoves inwardly and urges movable contact 44 toward stationary contact43.

The cigarette guide plate includes an annular skirt 71 which ts insidethe end of casing 60` and is used to secure the cover sub-assembly tothe casing. The annular skirt also acts as a spacer to maintain theproper spacing between heater mounting block 22 and cigarette guideplate 30` so that the heating coils are properly positioned withincigarette opening 32.

All of the components are mounted on inner casing 60 whereas outercovering 61 is removable and is used merely to provide a decorativeexterior so that the lighter can be marketed in a variety of differentstyles and designs without affecting the production of the mainassembly, The outer casing is cylindrical and is dimensioned to slideover inner casing 60. One end of the outer casing is bent inwardly toprovide a flange 72 which overlies the circumferential edge of contactblock 50. The covering is provided with an aperture positioned toaccommodate push button 45. The push button is depressed as the outercasing is slid into position and is thereafter released to pass throughthe aperture in the outer covering when in its proper position.

While only one illustrative embodiment has been described in detail, itshould be clear to those skilled in the art that there are numerousvariations within the scope of this invention. The scope of theinvention is more particularly defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric cigarette lighter comprising a case adapted to contain atleast one battery cell, means secured to said case and deining acigarette opening, a heating element formed of at least one line wirehelical coil, said heating element being disposed in said cigaretteopening for contacting the ends of cigarettes and lighting the same whenenergized, an electrical switch mounted on said case, circuit means forinterconnecting said battery cell, said switch and said heating elementso that said heating coil is energized from said battery when saidswitch is actuated, said heating lcoil consisting of a iine wire elementwhich, when energized by said battery, has the characteristics ofconsuming less than three watts, and a parabolic reilector visiblethrough said cigarette opening and located closely `behind said heatingcoil, said reilector enhancing the visibility of said coil when thelatter is energized.

2. A- cigarette lighter according to claim 1 wherein said reflector hasa gold reective surface. Y

3. A cigarette lighter according to claim 1 wherein said heating elementcomprises a multiturn coil made of platinum wire having a cross sectiondiameter between 0.003 and 0.005 inch.

4. A cigarette lighter according to claim 1 wherein said coil is made ofplatinum wire having a cross section diameter of between 0.003 and 0.005inch and wherein the diameter of each helical turn of said coil isbetween 0.010 and 0.012 inch.

5. A cigarette lighter according to claim 1 wherein said heating elementis formed of a pair of ine wire helical coils connected in parallel.

6. A cigarette lighter according to claim 5 wherein each of said coilsis made of platinum wire having a cross section diameter of 1between0.003 and 0.0015 inch and wherein the diameter of each helical turn ofeach coil is between 0.010 and 0.012 inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,240,678 5/1941 Standard 219-268X 2,487,753 11/1949 Cohn 317--87 2,487,754 11/1949 Cohn 317-87 2,516,8438/1950 Bakst et al. 219-268 2,827,539 3/1958 Smith et al. 219-347 X2,917,675 12/1959 Norton 219-267 2,993,977 7/ 1961 Balaguer 219-2703,119,002 l/ 1964 Alvarez et al. 219-266 3,240,915 3/1966 Carter et al.219--343 3,277,271 l0/1966 Hunt 219-268 3,351,736 11/1967 Jacobson219-267 FOREIGN PATENTS 405,887 2/1934 Great Britain. 700,652 12/ 1953Great Britain.

BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

VOLODYMYR Y. MAYEWSKY, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 2l9-267, 270, 240

